Eerie coincidence marks frustrating end to Bowden Francis' latest no-hit bid

People say lightning never strikes twice, but in the case of Bowden Francis, that couldn't be further from the truth. As he took to the mound for the ninth inning in Wednesday's matchup against the New York Mets, he sat just three outs away from the second no-hitter in Blue Jays history, and the first since 1990. Less than three weeks ago against the Angels on Aug. 24, he had found himself in the same situation, but a leadoff home run from Taylor Ward ended his outing.

This time, with Francisco Lindor at the plate, the exact same thing happened, as Francis' no-hit bid was ended with one swing of the bat. To add insult to injury, this represented the tying run, as the Jays had managed just one run to that point. Things would only get worse, as the bullpen surrendered five more runs, with the Blue Jays' ultimately falling 6-2.

While the end result was certainly disappointing, it shouldn't take away from how well Francis had pitched through eight innings, and over the last month as a whole. That being said, it's impossible to overstate just how strange of a coincidence it is for him to lose a no-hitter in precisely the same way just a few starts apart. Dave Stieb, who owns the only no-hitter in franchise history, famously struggled to seal the deal on a his own bid at history, losing multiple bids late in games, before finally throwing one in 1990. Maybe Francis is taking the same circuitous route as one of the greatest players in franchise history, but to lose two no-hitters the same way in such a short amount of time seems almost impossible.

With this most recent outing, Francis has now allowed just one hit in four of his last six outings, and has a 1.26 ERA over 43 innings during that stretch. This particular outing may not have been his most dominant, having only struck out one batter through his eight innings pitched while walking one and hitting two others, but it was more than enough to get through most of the game, with a little help from Davis Schneider in left field.

Bowden Francis flirts with Blue Jays no-hitter, loses it in same devastating fashion

Francis took home American League Pitcher of the Month honours in August, and with another outstanding outing under his belt, it's hard to argue that any pitcher has been better than he has over the last few weeks. It's unfortunate that the two most memorable moments of this stretch might be a pair of no-hitter-ending home runs. No matter the result, the main takeaway should be that Francis has begun to establish himself as a legitimate stud and is making it nearly impossible to be left out of the rotation come 2025.

As for the result of the game, the Blue Jays' offence, who have really come into their own lately, along with Chad Green and Génesis Cabrera, squandered what should have been an easy victory. Despite this, the focus should be on what Francis did on the mound. He's been on the doorstep of history twice in four starts. It just so happens that, both times, the Baseball Gods had other plans in mind.